There is a two-fold benefit for San Francisco 49ers as the franchise’s running back Christian McCaffrey returns to the starting line-up in time for a critical slate of NFL games.

McCaffrey swapped the Carolina Panthers, a franchise he excelled at, for the Niners in 2022 and quickly made an impact as the Offensive Player of the Year in 2023. He’s been absent, though, for the entirety of the 2024 season because of rehabilitation for various lower leg injuries. Now, he could return in the coming days or weeks.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, cultivated a career out of tallying passing touchdowns at eight different franchises, including the Rams, Bengals, and the Bills, among others.

Fitzpatrick, when speaking on ‘Thursday Night Football’, explained various hidden benefits when it comes to McCaffrey returning to the fold as it’s “still the 49ers division”. He said: “Christian McCaffrey is coming back. The red zone woes that they’ve had, he’s going to solve a lot of that.”

Then, there’s the boost his presence has with other key players especially considering his relationship with wide receiver Tyshun ‘Deebo’ Samuel Sr.

Fitzpatrick added: “And then even just watching Deebo and the interview and [where] the guys are at right now, the swagger and the confidence is back with Christian coming back in the line up.”

McCaffrey hasn't played a snap this season

McCaffrey hasn’t played a snap this season ( 

Image:

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

As for when San Francisco fans can expect to see McCaffrey back in action for the first team, well, that may come sooner than many expected. Perhaps, even, as soon as Sunday.

This is because of how he’s been performing in the practice sessions this week, according to 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who told ‘Tolbert & Copes on KNPR’ that McCaffrey could be fit for Sunday’s trip to the 75,000-capacity Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, when they take on Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“He’s been awesome these last two days,” Shanahan told the radio show. “Hopefully that continues to go well. I expect to get him out there.”

Should this weekend prove too soon for McCaffrey to start, and make his season debut, then he has other possible outings when the 49ers welcome Seattle Seahawks back to San Francisco on November 17, ahead of a big game at Green Bay Packers on Sunday, November 24 at Lambeau Field.

The 49ers need to hit some form to rise above their .500 percentage after eight games in the season so far. They sit third in NFC West.